Bill Text: MS HB1424 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Tax assessors; increase compensation upon completing certifications and licenses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-02-05 - Died In Committee [HB1424 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2019-HB1424-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Representative Barton
House Bill 1424
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-3-52, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE AN INCREASE IN COMPENSATION FOR THOSE TAX ASSESSORS AND DEPUTY TAX ASSESSORS WHO COMPLETE CERTAIN CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSES; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 27-1-51, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE MISSISSIPPI TAX COLLECTORS EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-3-52, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-3-52. (1) The Department of Revenue shall promulgate rules and regulations setting forth the minimum requirements for which tax assessors and/or their deputy assessors or assistants, appropriate state employees, employees of planning and development districts or other persons may attain certification as an appraiser. The Department of Revenue shall establish and conduct such educational and training programs as may be appropriate to assist such persons in attaining such certification.
(2) Counties having not more than five thousand (5,000) applicants for homestead exemption shall have at least one (1) certified appraiser, and counties having more than five thousand (5,000) applicants for homestead exemption shall have at least two (2) certified appraisers; however, any county may employ any certified appraiser on a part-time basis.
(3) When any tax assessor and/or his or her deputies or assistants travel outside of their county to attend an appraisal school, seminar or workshop approved by the Department of Revenue, such persons shall receive as reimbursement of expenses of such travel the same mileage and actual and necessary expenses for food, lodging and travel by public carrier or private motor vehicles as is allowed under Section 25-3-41. However, mileage shall not be authorized when such travel is done by a motor vehicle owned by the county.
(4) The county board of supervisors shall reimburse the assessors, tax collectors and deputies for reasonable and necessary expenses sustained in attending annual conferences, regional conferences, schools and seminars. The Department of Revenue shall have the authority to prescribe forms and to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section. No expenses authorized herein shall be reimbursed unless the expenses have been authorized or approved by an order of the board duly made and spread upon the minutes of such board.
(5) When any tax assessor
and/or his or her deputies or assistants attend and successfully
complete all qualifications pursuant to the Mississippi Education and
Certification Program and receive the certification level of Track II,
Evaluator I, they shall receive an additional * * * Two
Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) annually beginning the next fiscal year after
completion.
(6) When any tax assessor
and/or his or her deputies or assistants attend and successfully
complete all qualifications pursuant to the Mississippi Education and
Certification Program and receive the certification level of Track II,
Evaluator II, they shall receive an additional * * * Two
Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) annually beginning the next fiscal year after
completion.
(7) When any tax assessor
and/or his or her deputies or assistants attend and successfully
complete all qualifications pursuant to the Mississippi Education and
Certification Program and receive the certification level of Mississippi
Assessment Evaluator (MAE), they shall receive an additional * * * Two
Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) annually beginning the next
fiscal year after completion.
(8) When any deputy tax assessor successfully completes all qualifications to become a licensed certified residential real estate appraiser under Sections 73-34-1 through 73-34-63, or completes all qualifications to earn the International Association of Assessing Officers professional designation of Residential Evaluation Specialist (RES), on the recommendation of the tax assessor, the county board of supervisors may pay, in its discretion, an additional amount not to exceed Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) annually to the deputy beginning the next fiscal year after the completion of such qualifications.
(9) When any deputy tax assessor successfully completes all qualifications to become a licensed certified general real estate appraiser under Sections 73-34-1 through 73-34-63, or completes all qualifications to earn the International Association of Assessing Officers professional designation of Certified Assessment Evaluator (CAE), on the recommendation of the tax assessor, the county board of supervisors may pay, in its discretion, an additional amount not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) annually to the deputy beginning the next fiscal year after the completion of such qualifications.
(10) The accumulative total
of all educational increases authorized under subsections (5), (6), (7), (8)
and (9) of this section shall not exceed * * *
Fourteen Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($14,500.00) and shall be paid
out of the common county fund from proceeds of the one (1) mill ad valorem tax
as provided in Section 27-39-329.
(11) In order to receive the additional annual payment or payments provided for in subsections (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) of this section, the tax assessor or deputies or assistants who completed the Mississippi Education and Certification Program and were certified as provided herein shall be personally involved in the conduct, administration and/or supervision of the appraisal of the property of the county and in the maintenance of such appraisal.
SECTION 2. Section 27-1-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
27-1-51. (1) (a) The Office of the State Auditor shall establish and implement a Mississippi Tax Collectors Education and Certification Program under which county tax collectors and assessor-tax collectors and their deputies may attain certification as a tax collector or assessor-tax collector of state, county or municipal revenue. The Education and Certification Board, created under Section 27-1-53, in cooperation with the Center for Governmental Training and Technology within the Mississippi State University Extension Service, shall administer and conduct the education and training programs and examinations as may be appropriate for those persons to attain the certification, as directed by the Office of the State Auditor through its rules and regulations for the efficient administration of the programs and examinations authorized under Sections 27-1-51 through 27-1-69. There shall be three (3) levels of certification: Collector of Revenue I (CR 1), Collector of Revenue II (CR 2), and the Mississippi Collector of Revenue (MCR).
(b) Counties having not more than fifteen thousand (15,000) parcels of real property shall have a minimum of two (2) Collectors of Revenue I (CR 1), and counties having more than fifteen thousand (15,000) parcels of real property shall have a minimum of three (3) Collectors of Revenue I (CR 1).
(2) (a) In any year in which a county tax collector or assessor-tax collector takes office for the first time, the Office of the State Auditor shall require training sessions to be conducted in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the office for these new officials. These sessions shall be held at sufficiently convenient locations throughout the state and at times that are sufficient to provide each county tax collector and assessor-tax collector with an opportunity to attend the training.
(b) To ensure that all newly elected or appointed tax collectors and assessor-tax collectors have an opportunity to attend the training sessions required by this section, the Office of the State Auditor shall require the training sessions to be conducted in each congressional district within the state.
(3) When any tax collector, assessor-tax collector, or the deputy thereof, travels outside of his county to attend a certified collection school approved by the Office of the State Auditor, that person shall receive a reimbursement of expenses for the travel at the same rate for mileage, food and lodging as allowed under Section 25-3-41. However, mileage shall not be authorized when the travel occurs by use of a motor vehicle owned by the county. All expenses reimbursed for attending a certified collection school shall be charged against the approved budget of the county tax collector or assessor-tax collector.
(4) The Office of the State Auditor shall have plenary authority to prescribe forms and to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of Sections 27-1-51 through 27-1-69.
(5) The county tax collector or assessor-tax collector shall select a candidate from among his deputies to attend the certification program described in Sections 27-1-51 through 27-1-69.
(6) (a) When any tax collector or deputy tax collector holds a valid certificate of educational recognition from the Education and Certification Board as established by Section 27-1-67 by attaining certification as a Collector of Revenue I (CR 1), he shall receive an additional Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) annually beginning the next fiscal year after completion.
(b) When any tax collector or deputy tax collector holds a valid certificate of educational recognition from the Education and Certification Board as established by Section 27-1-67 by attaining certification as a Collector of Revenue II (CR 2), he shall receive an additional Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) annually beginning the next fiscal year after completion.
(c) When any tax collector or deputy tax collector holds a valid certificate of educational recognition from the Education and Certification Board as established by Section 27-1-67 by attaining certification as a Mississippi Collector of Revenue (MCR), he shall receive an additional Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) annually beginning the next fiscal year after completion.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.
